Mistaken
by TayliaNinja
Summary: The fire surrounded him. The smoke rose high in the sky. The flames came closer and closer to his delicate body, their dead hands reaching. There was a sickening sound as the wood along the bridge began to break and fall. The entire bridge fell with Will.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The fire surrounded him. The smoke rose high in the darkened sky. The flames came closer and closer to his delicate body, their dead hands reaching. There was a sickening sound as the wood along the bridge broke and began to fall. The entire bridge fell and with it was Will.

"Will!" Evanlyn screamed as a rock was thrown toward his head.

But there was no reason to yell because the rock never did hit him. The rock flew across the fissure, finally resting in the hot flames.

*****

Horace watched the scene happen in horror.

"No," he whispered.

Evanlyn was screaming for her lost friend, struggling to get out of the grip of Skandians. Her golden blond hair was everywhere, covering her face as she tried to push them away from her. The huge Skandian that was holding onto her grabbed her by the wrist as another picked up a stone from the ground and tossed it at the Evanlyn's head.

The girl collapsed into the Skandian's arms.

"We better go," a Skandian said, looking down the fissure to the golden embers that were still there from the fire. "Morgarath won't be pleased."

One of the larger and stronger looking Skandians said, "What about the boy?"

The two Skandians that were not holding the hostage moved to the cliff of the fissure. They looked closely, searching and making sure that the young man had fallen into the flames. They found nothing but burned wood and red embers left. They shook their heads and moved to help their friend with their hostage.

They carried her away.

Horace took a deep breath. He knew he'd not have a chance against that many Skandians. He knew that it would be foolish to even try. If he did die in the fight, which he probably would, then the army will not know of the real plans. He would have to ride ahead with the horses and warn them.

Even though it was the right thing to do Horace found it hard to leave Will. Will had been his best friend. They'd been through a lot together and grew up together in the ward of Redmont. He sighed as he got onto Kicker and signaled for the other horses to follow.

*****

The sun was setting along the hills.

Evanlyn sighed, looking at the grass. They were in the fields and were on their way to the battle grounds. But it was time to call it a night.

"Girl!" a Skandian that she recognized as Svengal said.

Evanlyn said, "Yes?"

Svengal sat next to her by the fire and held out a small blanket. It was of a dark color and looked incredibly thin. Evanlyn looked at it for a moment. It was nothing like she was used to. This entire trip was completely out of her normal life. She was used to living in a huge castle with maids and people to do her every wish.

She thanked Svengal and he left to go talk with his fellow men. Evanlyn held the blanket close and draped it around herself, using it as a shield. She stared into the flames and remembered.

_She looked across the field. There was grass everywhere in sight, rising out of the ground. Evanlyn sighed, leaning back against her tree. The memory of the wargal attack was still high in her mind. She could not get over it. But now she was on her own here in the wild of Araluen, living and sleeping in the same clothes every day and finding food from various types of berries and leafs._

_She supposed it was time that she set out to find more food. It has been a long time sense she had eaten anything. Evanlyn looked across the field and back into the forest behind her, searching for a bush of berries or something of the sort. But something else caught her eye._

_It was three men. All three of them were traveling on a horse. Two of them were dressed in dark cloaks. The other was dressed in the apprentice outfit for Knights that were still in Battleschool. Evanlyn rose from her spot by the tree and looked closer, hiding behind a bush._

"_Rangers," she whispered in relief._

She stirred from the memory.

It had happened only a few days ago but it seemed like so much had passed since then. The sky was black now. She distantly heard the sounds of men snoring loudly behind her. The fire was out and there was darkness everywhere.

Evanlyn breathed in quickly as she counted the dark shapes on the ground some feet away from her. There were four in total. She gasped quietly and began to rise from her sleeping position. But a sharp pain in her right arm stopped her.

She breathed out quickly in pain and used her left arm to feel around her wrist. There was a rope tied around her wrist, feeling as if it had been tied expertly. But this was her only chance at escaping. She raised the rope to her mouth and began to bite on it as hard as she could. It didn't change. She spent thirty minutes doing the same thing but trying different methods before she gave up.

She sat down on the yellow grass, groaning. There was no way out.

******

"_Will!"_

_Will turned around quickly. It was Alyss, her long blond hair flowing behind her as she ran toward him. Will looked to Halt briefly for approval and seeing no extra frown, he jumped down from Tug. Alyss was just a few feet away from him now. He smiled and took her into his arms._

"_Alyss," he murmured, hugging her tightly._

_They had just returned from their mission to stop the Kalkara. Halt was nursing a broken leg and his other companions had some minor injuries. Will had come back fine and led them home easily. _

"_I've missed you, Will." Alyss said after she had pulled away from him._

_He smiled. "I've missed you too."_

The memory was surprising. It had happened just a number of months ago but Will began to wonder why he was remembering that time now. It was an inappropriate time to be thinking of Alyss when he was in this kind of pain.

His legs were burned terribly and he was on the left side of the fissure, the side away from Araluen. He groaned as the pain shot through him. It had been a long drop when the bridge had fallen. Will slowly used his arms to pull himself away and out from under the still hot wood. It was lucky that the wood that had fallen on top of him was not actually on fire. The wood had been merely very hot.

Will groaned and gasped in pain during the long journey but he finally reached the entrance to the tunnel. It was completely black outside. He sighed and leaned back against the tunnel wall and fell asleep almost immediately.

******


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"_Yield!" Will screamed as Horace held him in a headlock. Will groaned, trying to get away from the bully. _

_Horace laughed coldly and let go of the smaller boy slowly. It was a Saturday at the courtyard in Redmont fief. They wards were allowed to have free run of the village and courtyard today. They had arrived only a few minutes before and we waiting for Jenny and George to arrive. _

"_Will, are you all right?" Alyss said._

"_Yes, Alyss." Will whispered," I'm fine."_

_Alyss swung her blond hair around her shoulders and faced Will, her pretty face filled with concern for her friend. Her grey eyes studied him as if to make sure he was not lying then she nodded slightly and looked at the grass. The fight had been a short one this time because Will had been caught off guard when Horace started to physically attack him. They had been arguing, as usual. _

Horace snapped out of the memory quickly.

He had been thinking of Will almost his entire journey back. He could not get him out of his head. All he could remember was the times he had been mean to Will. He remembered all the times he and Will had fought and he had caused the smaller one pain. And now Will was gone.

He had been riding all night. The sound of Tug's hooves hitting the ground as they ran along the grasslands as the only sound he heard. It was black outside and the stars were high in the sky. He looked closely at the stars, thinking of his best friend.

"I'll miss you, Will." Horace whispered.

******

Will groaned as he finally woke up from his dreams.

It had been a long night. He sighed and pulled his burned legs into a more comfortable position. He'd fallen asleep with his head on his shoulder and now it ached. But that ache didn't hurt as much as his legs did.

It had been a long night. The sun was rising along the grasslands slowly. But will could hardly take any notice of it.

He was stuck. There was no way he could help himself because of his legs that felt like they would not be very stable in a while. They had been crushed by a large amount of wood. He wondered if they were broken. They sure felt like they were.

Will slid his hand gently along his leg. He gasped in pain, pulling it away a long quicker than when he had put it down. It hurt a lot. The Ranger looked closely at his hand, narrowing his eyes because of the lack of brightness. Then he gasped silently. His hand was covered in blood.

******

"Come on!" Evanlyn heard one of the Skandians yell to her.

She nodded slightly and began to walk faster, her hands now tied together by a rope. The rope fell behind her and connected with their leader's hands. She heard his name was Erak.

They had been moving for an hour.

All Evanlyn could think about was Will. She remembered the look of determination in his eyes as he made sure the bridge would be fully destroyed. And the action had taken Will's life.

The Skandians talked loudly, not seeming to care or think about their young hostage. They spoke of the upcoming battle and they even talked about the Skandian attack. She wondered if they were going to be taking place in that. And if they were, then maybe she'd have a chance to escape.

_Evanlyn had been trying to find the Rangers all day. __She hid behind a bush, her blond hair covering her face. She stood in the shadows because she was slightly hesitant to approach the men. Even though she had spent a good part of my day following them she was still nervous. The girl wondered if they'd help her. But deep down in her heart she knew that they would. Rangers were always good men, dedicated to their service to the Kingdom. They'd help a girl in need. _

_The taller Ranger, who was older, had his knife up to one of the men's neck. Obviously these two badly kept looking men weren't welcome at their camp site. A young man, probably around her age was looking closely at a piece of parchment with a grim look on his young face. A larger young man stood nearby. _

_"It was stolen," the taller Ranger said to the thief. "You crept in like jackals and stole it from people who are obviously in deep trouble. It's not yours. It's theirs. Or their families, if they're still alive."_

_She decided it was time to make her entrance. "They're still alive," Evanlyn said as she moved out of the bushes and into view. "They're run from Morgarath-those he hasn't already captured." _

_When the girl entered the clearing they all wore expressions of shock. Evanlyn tried to imagine what she might look to them. She remembered cutting her hair a few nights ago in desperation. Now it was to the length of a boy. Her clothes were stained, her face dirty, and her was body a mess. She held her bandana tied bundle close to her body as they looked at her. _

_They all seemed friendly enough and they needed information. Perhaps we could figure that out._

"Girl!" Svengal yelled in her ear.

Evanlyn was stuck in memories again. She shook her head, startled. Svengal was walking beside her, his eyes full of anger. The girl looked ahead. She had fallen very far behind in the time she had been remembering her lost friend. She sighed and for a second she thought she almost saw sympathy in the man's eyes.

But then it was gone. He ordered her to catch up with the rest with a cold glare. She did as she was told and began to walk in order with the Skandians once again.

It was going to be a long day.

******

Horace breathed in a quick breath when he noticed them.

They were gathered around on the field. It was a pack of Calvary men with their horses. But as he moved closer he noticed that that wasn't just who they were. In the middle of the group a small bundle of officials were seated.

His heart lifted.

He looked closer at the men. They looked like they meant business and we on an official mission. He edged closer on Tug and looked closely.

It was time to let them know what happened.

*****


End file.
